trains Archives - Colorado Central Magazine

Snowbound on Trains

July 10, 2020January 10, 2019 by Mike Rosso

By Forrest Whitman The usual gossip in the lounge car on the westbound California Zephyr (#5) moved to the topic of snow. It seemed most everyone had been snowbound or at least delayed by snow. I was in the mood for a good, long trip to share the holidays with my family from Thailand in …

Nostalgia, Stories and Maybe Trains Again?

April 14, 2020November 14, 2018 by Mike Rosso

By Forrest Whitman Folks who live along what was once the mainline of the Denver Rio Grande and Western Railroad often wax nostalgic. They remember hearing a freight grinding up to Tennessee Pass late at night. For places like Salida, Pleasant Valley and Leadville, the railroad was a source of identity. They felt at home …

From the Editor: Railroading

September 27, 2016July 1, 2016 by Mike Rosso

By Mike Rosso

Confession: I enjoy trains – a lot.
I’ve been aboard most of the tourist trains in Colorado, and was lucky enough to hear John McCutcheon sing City of New Orleans in the original Illinois Central club car, chugging down the west side of La Veta Pass one rainy summer afternoon. Sometimes I’ll even get nostalgic about the acrid coal smoke of the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge R.R. I was forced to inhale when I owned a downtown business there. I’ve also awoken to coal cars rumbling through downtown Paonia in the middle of the night.

The Caboose

July 15, 2015May 1, 2015 by Mike Rosso

by Forrest Whitman Train Day is coming May 9, and at least 20 of us from Colorado Central territory will be on the Southwest Chief train that day. We’ll meet other Chief fans along the way and spend the night in Las Vegas, New Mexico. There will be partying on and off the train. We …

Book Review – Hollywood’s Railroads, Volume Three: Narrow Gauge Country

July 17, 2015May 1, 2015 by Mike Rosso

Hollywood’s Railroads, Volume Three: Narrow Gauge Country By Larry Jensen Cochetopa Press 72 pages ISBN 978-0-692-31351-0 Reviewed by Forrest Whitman Here’s a little gem of a railroad book that explains a lot about Colorado Central country. As recently as 1968, both of our narrow gauge railroads in southern Colorado were threatened with extinction. The D&RGW …

A Love Affair with Model Trains

November 11, 2014July 1, 2014 by Mike Rosso

by Judith Reese, Photos by Mike Rosso “Fabulous! Colorado’s Best Secret Attraction,” declares an entry in the Buena Vista Model Railroad guestbook. It’s in the hand of well-known history professor Tom Noel, and now the secret is out. The delightful diorama, housed on the top floor of the BV Heritage Museum, depicts in miniature the …

The Caboose

December 1, 2010 by Mike Rosso

by Forrest Whitman

Come Ride a Santa Train

A few older readers of Colorado Central may remember the Santa trains coming to Salida when they were kids. For many years the Rio Grande R. R. pulled a special caboose into the Salida yards covered in green fir boughs and candy canes (see this month’s cover). Santa waved from the back platform and then proceeded to give out lots of candy supplied by local service clubs. My own kids can remember something of the same sort happening at Union Station in Denver when the D & R.G.W. gave Santa a free ride into town. That Santa even had his own little house set up in the main waiting room. The D.&. R.G.W. has disappeared in railroad blues, but Santa is still very much alive. Kids of all ages can still ride some fine Colorado Santa trains to meet the jolly old elf in 2010. Adults like it too.